One-Two win for Aussie crews in the 2015 Transpac Race
It was a win-win for Australian sailing this week when two Aussie boats, sailed by mostly Aussie crews dominated the results for the 2015 Transpac Race from the USA to Hawaii.
Hoping to break the race record in their first ever entry, Wild Oats XI, the 100ft super maxi owned by Hamilton Island's Bob Oatley crossed the line with the fastest elapsed race time in the fleet. It was short of the record by several hours, thanks to the ligher than expected downwind conditons during the crossing. Interestingly, Wild Oats XI wasn't the first boat to actually cross the line however, that title being awarded to the little 37ft yacht named Celerity, which started 5 days ahead of the super-maxi's in a traditional handicap start arrangement.
Hot on the heels of Wild Oats XI, was another Aussie super maxi, Ragamuffin 100 owned by Syd Fischer and crewed by a team of Aussies. Finishing only a couple of hours behind, the team from Ragamuffin had to settle for second place after choosing an alternate line across the Pacific in a bid to overtake Wild Oats XI.
For the team from the third super maxi in the running, Rio 100, they too walked away with a prize, perhaps the most coveted, what's known as the 'Barn Door' - awarded to the fastest boat to finish using only manually operated equipment. That means there were no electric winches, and the crew of 19 spent their days with 8 at a time manning the winches to trim sails. Wild Oats XI, and Ragamuffin 100 however, could trim with the push of a button in some cases, leaving the rest of the crew free to perform other taks. The Barn Door trophy is one of the most unique in sailing. Hand carved from a traditional Hawaiian wood called Koa, it's not only beautiful, but inscribed with the names of sailings fastest yachts from the last 30 years…
Check out the footage of the super maxi Rio 100 crossing the line in Hawaii, the 100ft monster looks pretty tame until you see the spray coming off the rudders!
(There's no decent footage of Wild Oats XI or Ragamuffin 100 crossing the line, as they finished at night).